Marauders Drabbles
by Untiltheveryend7
Summary: Short drabbles that aren't long enough to be one-shots and published separately. All centring around James and Lily or the Marauders!
1. The News

**_Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way._**

The News

Remus read the news in the _Daily Prophet._

It wasn't surprising, really, that no-one had bothered to come and tell him. No-one had roused Remus from his sleep to inform him that his life had just been torn apart. No-one was there to comfort him as he read the sentences printed in black and white over and over again, somehow hoping that none of it was real, that this was all a terrible nightmare; that he'd wake up, and everything would be okay again.

But it wasn't okay. It wasn't okay, and he didn't know how anything would ever be okay again.

Remus stared at the front page for another few seconds; his hands shaking, his breathing shallow. He let out a strangled sob as he dropped the paper on the table and started tearing at it with his nails like a madman.

Again and again, he couldn't stop. If he were to stop, the keenly physical pain in his chest would redouble and consume him. He had to keep tearing.

There were tears flowing freely down Remus's cheeks as he stopped, and when he saw what he'd done to the paper, he closed his eyes, his whole body contorting in a violent sob as he lay his head in the mess.

For the front page of the_ Daily Prophet_ sported a photo of the five of them, long ago, in happier days. Remus had been cropped out.

And the caption read: Three murders, One Murderer.


	2. Tired

Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.

Tired

James and Lily held hands as they were brought back into their solid forms in that damp old forest, Remus and Sirius either side of them.

He was there. Harry.

James tightened his hold on Lily.

Their baby, standing there right in front of them. They couldn't touch. Harry couldn't have one last hug with his parents. They could only talk, and hope that their pride and sorrow was properly expressed through their speech.

The childhood innocence was all but gone from his eyes. It had been torn from him by war and death. He looked tired in the deepest sense.

James couldn't stand it. Lily was refraining from showing too much emotion.

He shouldn't be that kind of tired. Not a boy so young. _Their_ boy.

There was no sparkle left in his green eyes, so like Lily's. His hope was finally extinguished.

As Harry looked at his parents, a little of the innocence he'd lost returned to his gaze.

Harry Potter just wanted to be looked after.

Tragically, the only thing Lily and James could help their son through was death.


	3. Sirius Laughed

Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.

Sirius Laughed

Sirius laughed as a little boy, playing with his brother and cousins. They were too young to know that their childhood friendships would be ripped apart by prejudice and politics in their adolescent years.

Sirius laughed when his Hogwarts letter arrived, relieved. His laughter died quickly, though, seeing the downhearted expression on Regalus's face. He would miss his little brother.

Sirius laughed with James Potter on the train to Hogwarts. He was a funny bloke, James, and he found instant companionship in the bespectacled boy.

He laughed when the sorting hat pronounced him a Gryffindor. Even as an eleven-year-old, the irony wasn't lost on him.

Sirius tried to laugh when he received the first letter from his mother. It was difficult though, because seeing the contempt she felt for him in writing was even worse than he'd imagined.

Sirius laughed his way through Hogwarts, because the alternative was self-destruction. His fellow Marauders helped, though. James, Remus and Peter. Truly the best friends he'd ever have. They knew when he wanted to be left alone, and they knew when he wanted to talk.

Most importantly, they definitely knew how to make him laugh.

Sirius laughed when James and Lily finally got together, and he was in hysterics at the thought of their marriage. But sure enough, it happened, and Sirius was the smiling best man at their wedding, raising a glass to the happy couple.

Sirius smiled when Harry was born. The infant grabbed hold of his finger at a couple of weeks old, and surveyed him with eyes that were surely turning green. James and Lily smiled, and Sirius didn't laugh.

He tried to make James laugh when he visited his and Lily's little cottage, and he succeeded sometimes. Sirius tried to be strong for his best mate; he knew that James was struggling with being contained, but it was disconcerting. He thought he'd always have James around to laugh with him.

Sirius cried when he saw James's corpse. Hagrid took Harry away, and he was left in Godric's Hollow. Blinded in equal parts by his tears and his blistering rage, he left to find the traitor. Find him and kill him. Peter Pettigrew; one of the few people who'd once made his life worth living.

Sirius laughed when Peter faked his own death, and he was surrounded by Aurors. A bitter, broken laugh, bordering on insanity.

_Neatly done, Pettigrew_, was his last thought as the guards dragged him away.

_Neatly done._

Sirius laughed as his cousin shot a bolt of green light at him, because it was entirely welcome.


	4. Talking to Baby

Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.

Talking to Baby

"James, he can't hear you."

Lily looked down at her husband, laughing at the intense look on his face as he spoke to her stomach.

James looked up, frowning, "Lily, do you mind? I'm talking to the baby."

"James."

"Lily!"

"Fine, fine," she said, lying back on the bed, her six-month pregnant stomach sticking up in front of her.

"Thank you," James said.

Lily smiled despite herself as James started talking again.

"Now, where was I before your mad mother interrupted us, son? Oh yes. Right, so after you've managed to wriggle yourself out of there - try to do it painlessly, yeah? - you're going to come home with me and your mum. And then Sirius, Remus and Peter are coming over. They're your uncles, and Sirius is going to be your godfather."

"On probation," Lily reminded him. "Probationary period of six months. If he manages to not drop the baby in that time and to not transform in the house, he can stay."

"Mummy's a bit grumpy, lad," James continued, patting Lily's stomach. "Not her fault - hormones, you know?"

Lily kneed him in the face.

James frowned at her, looking down at her raised leg. "Stop it," he said. "Don't hurt the baby."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You are ridiculous."

James continued, unruffled. "And then when you're a bit older, son, I'll buy you your first broom. Sirius and I will teach you to play, and you'll be on the team at Hogwarts as soon as you step foot on the grounds. Honest."

"Not that your father will pressure you into Quidditch or anything," Lily put in, trying not to smile.

James turned to look at her. "I thought the baby couldn't hear you, Lily?"

"He can hear _me_ - he's in _my_ body. Just not you."

"Oh, I see how it is. Favouritism, is it?"

"I am more likable than you are, love."

"You're his life source. He has to like you."

"Whatever makes you feel better."

James grinned wickedly, lightly kissing the naked skin of Lily's stomach before running a finger along the same spot: just above the waistband of her jeans, where he knew she was most sensitive.

Lily squealed in laughter, trying to slap her husband away, but he was relentless, and soon she was a giggling mess amongst the sheets.

"What about the baby," Lily squealed, trying to catch his hands, but finding he was far too quick for her.

James grinned, leaned over so his face was hovering inches above hers, and said, "A little laughter never hurt anyone."

And then James leaned down and kissed her, and his previous crimes were forgotten.


	5. Watching

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

He watches her.

He doesn't mean to - it's become rather a habit over the years. And if he has to stare at someone, Lily Evans is a worthy subject. She's more beautiful than ever this year, James thinks, and it's strange to know that she doesn't hate him anymore. But a good kind of strange; the kind of strange that makes his chest lift and his lips curve into a smile whenever he thinks about it.

Of course, their newfound friendship of the last few months means he must be more careful about being caught watching her.

Not that he could stop - she's far too mesmerizing for that. He's just careful.

James doesn't look away quickly enough when she turns around, red hair flicking behind her. She meets his gaze with her green eyes, and they crinkle in the corners, and she's_ smiling_ at him, little pink lips pulled up at the corners just for him.

He grins more widely, and winks at her, just so he can watch the easy blush stain her cheeks, her smile widening for a second before she turns back around and starts paying attention to Professor Binns.

As Head Boy and Head Girl, they always patrol the corridors together on Wednesday and Friday evenings.

Today is a Wednesday, and James is hanging around with the Marauders in the common room that evening, waiting for her to approach him.

Sirius cracks a joke, and Remus and Peter laugh, but James doesn't hear it, because his gaze is drawn towards the stairs up to the Girls' dormitory. Lily is walking down the stairs.

James stands up, says a quick goodbye to his friends, straightens his glasses, and meets her halfway across the common room.

"Evening, Evans," he says with a grin, and he's always surprised at how well he can pull off nonchalance when she fills him with butterflies.

Manly butterflies, he hastens to rectify.

"You're eager tonight, Potter," she says, leading the way through the common room and towards the portrait hole. He laughs while her back is turned, because she doesn't know just how true that is.

They step out of the portrait hole, the Fat Lady swinging back into place behind them, and James continues the conversation. "I take my responsibilities very seriously, you know, Evans," he says, her surname falling from his lips naturally. He uses it when he flirts with her.

She snorts, and he grins, and everything is going the way it usually does.

It is after curfew. They check in broom cupboards and alcoves for amorous couples, and turn out any that they find, docking five housepoints a head.

"You would have thought they'd learn," Lily says, "Snog during the daytime, before patrol starts, and they won't get caught."

He smirks at her, "Speaking from experience, Evans?" he asks.

James was hoping for the blush, but when she just rolls her eyes at him, smiling, and says, "Wouldn't you like to know," he thinks it's even better.

Merlin, what wouldn't he give to just push her up against the wall right here and show her just how much her suggestive comments got to him.

But he doesn't, because he is James Potter, and she is Lily Evans, and he doesn't want to lose what little standing with her he has.

They walk, and he cracks jokes and makes comments, and she laughs, blushing at times.

And her hand is brushing against his as they walk, and he doesn't know whether she's doing it intentionally, or whether they are just walking too close together.

It's towards the end of the night when Lily brings up the topic of Slughorn's upcoming party.

James tells Lily how he and the Marauders are never invited, and she seems scandalized.

"I always assumed you just never turned up!" she says, her green eyes wide as she watches him. "You're some of the most talented students in the school!"

James feels his heart speed up in his chest, and he curses himself for letting her affect him so much. He knows from experience there's nothing he can do to stop it.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd be one to boost my ego, Evans," James says finally, smirking. She shakes her head as they walk, smiling. "I reckon it was something to do with all the times we raided his cupboard. And blew up potions."

"Perhaps," Lily says. She's silent for a couple of seconds, and they're heading back towards the seventh floor now - it's the end of their shift. "Still, I reckon you ought to come to one."

James is about to reply saying he has better parties to gatecrash than Slughorn's, when Lily says something that makes the words die on his lips.

"You can be my plus-one, if you like," she says. Her cheeks are a bright, beautiful pink in the candlelight, and James stops right in the middle of the staircase.

It takes her a second or two to notice, and then she stops too, a few steps above him. She meets his eyes, and he's grinning wildly.

"Do you mean... as a date?" James asks, barely able to believe it.

Lily goes pinker still, but she doesn't break their gaze as she says, "If you like."

_If he likes. _

James is convinced that the girl is completely mental.

He steps up until he's level height with Lily, standing on the stair below her.

"Yes," he says, "I like."

Lily smiles, and she takes his hand, pulling him up the staircase before it moves and keeping hold of it until they get to the common room.

Her hand is so small and delicate in his, and the feel of it has James wanting more than ever to thread his fingers through her hair, to bring her closer against him, to press his lips to hers.

But he doesn't. There's no way in hell that he's going to blow this chance.

She leaves him standing at the foot of the boys' staircase with a "Goodnight, James," and a kiss on the cheek, so swiftly that he barely has time to register the feel of her lips on his skin or the smell of her hair.

And then she's climbing the girls' staircase, and he watches until her red hair is out of sight.

* * *

**A/N: Long time no see again! Sorry! I won November NaNo, though ;) **

**Feedback is always welcomed!**


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